Last edited on 29 Nov 2025. View history

Capsicum chinense Capsicum Chinense

Capsicum chinense
Also known as yellow lantern chili (EN)

A variety of capsicum

How to sow Capsicum chinense: Direct seed indoors, transplant seedlings outside after hardening off

Sun requirement for Capsicum chinense: Plant in Full Sun

Capiscum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae that produces peppers. The Capiscum genus contains 20-27 species of peppers which vary in color, shape, size, and heat. 5 species are domesticated. Most peppers are green when unripe and change color as the fruit matures. The fruit of most species contains capsaicin, which gives hot peppers their spiciness. Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) are an exception: they do not contain capsaicin due to a recessive gene, and are therefore not spicy. The Scoville scale is used to measure the relative heat of peppers. Bell peppers have a rating of 0-25 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), jalapenos are between 2,500-10,000 SHU. All peppers, regardless of species, prefer a long, warm growing season and well-drained soil high in organic matter. Seeds can be started indoors 8-10 weeks before hardening off and transplanting. In cooler climates, it can be preferable to grow peppers in containers indoors to extend the growing season and prevent frost from killing plants. Peppers have an upright growing habit and can benefit from staking to help the plant support the fruits.

1
planting
3
harvests
0
seed packets
Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own Capsicum chinense.
Sign in

Capsicum chinense facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
21 weeks median lifespan

First harvest expected

7 weeks after planting

Germination

10–14 days median of members' seed packets

Grown for

fruit harvested 3 times
What are growing degree days?

A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.

Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.

For Capsicum chinense, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 15°C and a shortest growing cycle of 120 days at its best temperature, about 960 growing degree days to a first harvest.

Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Capsicum chinense will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.

Growing Capsicum chinense

  1. Sow seeds indoors 8 weeks before planting out
  2. Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
  3. Stake the plants 3 weeks after planting out
  4. Water regularly at planting out every week
  5. Feed with liquid fertiliser 6 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
  6. Pick fruit regularly at first harvest every week
  7. Pull out finished plants 6 weeks after first harvest

How members grow Capsicum chinense

Sunniness

Loading...

Planted from

Loading...

Harvested for

Loading...

Varieties of Capsicum chinense

Image of adjuma pepper

adjuma pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of ají dulce pepper

ají dulce pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of bhut jolokia chilli pepper

bhut jolokia chilli pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of black habanero pepper

black habanero pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of cachucha pepper

cachucha pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of Carolina Reaper

Carolina Reaper

Capsicum chinense
Image of datil pepper

datil pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of fatalii pepper

fatalii pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of Hainan yellow lantern

Hainan yellow lantern

Capsicum chinense
Image of Madame Jeannette Pepper

Madame Jeannette Pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of red savino pepper

red savino pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of Scotch bonnet pepper

Scotch bonnet pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of Trinidad Moruga scorpion pepper

Trinidad Moruga scorpion pepper

Capsicum chinense
Image of Trinidad scorpion butch T pepper

Trinidad scorpion butch T pepper

Capsicum chinense

Photos

Capsicum chinense crops

Capsicum chinense plantings

Scotch Bonnets
Scotch Bonnets
by Batchelor
Scotch B
Scotch B
by Batchelor
Scotch B
Scotch B
by Batchelor
IMG_20180321_212154_189
IMG_20180321_212154_189
by shiny
IMG_20180225_102433
IMG_20180225_102433
by shiny

Capsicum chinense harvests

IMG_20180424_154819
IMG_20180424_154819
by shiny
IMG_20180331_183757
IMG_20180331_183757
by shiny
IMG_20180314_072844
IMG_20180314_072844
by shiny
IMG_20180225_102834
IMG_20180225_102834
by shiny
More photos

Video

Where Capsicum chinense grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about Capsicum chinense

Nobody has posted about Capsicum chinense yet.

Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing Capsicum chinense.
Image of Capsicum chinense

Who's planted Capsicum chinense

Sign in or sign up to track your Capsicum chinense plantings.

Capsicum chinense harvests

View all Capsicum chinense harvests

Sign in or sign up to track your Capsicum chinense harvests.

Find Capsicum chinense seeds

There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Capsicum chinense Jacq.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Asteridae
Solanales
Solanaceae
Optimal temperature 20 - 26 °C
Absolute temperature 15 - 32 °C
Optimal rainfall 600 - 1250 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 500 - 1500 mm/year
Optimal soil pH 6.0 - 6.5
Absolute soil pH 5.3 - 7.0
Crop cycle 120 - 150 days
Life form herb
Life span annual
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture heavy, medium
Optimal soil fertility high
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)
Optimal light very bright

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

Learn more about Capsicum chinense

Resources outside Growstuff.